Chapter 28 #2
“You think he’s hot?” the growly guy snapped.
A sense of danger settled over me, and I took a step back before freezing, my mouth drying at the ferocity in his gaze.
The woman in the purple dress raised a brow. “Did you get your memory back?” Her words broke the strange spell the large man had placed over me, and a shiver ran down my spine as I tore my gaze away from him.
“Nope. No spark. Zero. Absolutely nothing. It was like kissing a tax return,” the boho girl said.
“I agree,” sharp-suited man said. “But what I was going to suggest was that we leave and ask someone outside of this room who we are.”
My eyes widened when a man in a navy three-piece suit floated around the edge of the room. And by floated, I meant hovering above the floor, moving without walking.
“I don’t know how I got here,” he grumbled while passing through a sofa.
The guy next to me leaped into the air in a move that appeared almost superhuman. “What is that?” he growled. Honest to god, growled. Okay, so we had Neo, an ice princess, and now a dude who embodied every woman’s dream romance novel hero.
The floating dude put his hands on his hips. “How rude. You don’t see me asking what you are when you behave like one of those furries off of social media.” A white cat, who had formed itself into a loaf shape on the kitchen island, hissed at him.
Furries? What? Oh my god, we were in a furry cult, and something had gone wrong during role play.
“At least I walk around the furniture and not through it,” the big guy snapped back.
The floating dude glanced down, waited a beat, and then shrieked, the sound rattling the windows and sending the cat hightailing it out of the open doors into the night.
The blonde girl lifted a strand of her perfectly styled hair. “Can you see any split ends?” she asked, waving it in the air.
The boho woman shook her head. “Absolutely not. You’re all good.”
And so not the point.
“I think you’re a ghost,” the suited man said, pointing at the floating guy.
“What gave it away?” leather coat dude muttered.
“Ghost? Ghost?” the floating guy shouted before dropping through the floor and disappearing.
Regular people would freak out right about now, but we clearly weren’t normal. I twisted my lips to the side. “I think we need to find someone who knows what’s going on.”
“And how do you suggest we do that?” growling guy said. Was he hiding behind the sofa? Yup, definitely sofa hiding. “Also, if ghosts are real, what about other things?”
“Like?” the elegant woman asked.
“Aliens,” leather coat guy said.
I snorted. Ghosts were one thing, but aliens? Nope. Surely not. I reached behind me to scratch my back. It was like something heavy was pressing on it.
“They could have probed us,” the growly guy said.
“For what?” boho lady wondered.
He shrugged. “I don’t know, but maybe that’s why we’ve lost our memories.”
“Not all our memories,” I pointed out. “I know where we are and the name of the president.”
“So it’s a short-term memory thing?” the blonde asked. “Well, I think we should just get to know each other and wait for them to come back.” She eyed the growly guy like he was a snack, and a burning jealousy erupted in my veins. Wow, I was ready to throw down if she even made a suggestive remark.
I squinted at him and tried picturing us together. How would that even work? I was tiny, and he was huge. He’d crush me.
“I say we venture out and get answers,” leather-clad dude decided as he strode to a door and flung it open. We all angled our heads with interest, only to find a broom closet.
I snorted. “Unless you’re going to ride out on a broomstick like Elphaba, I don’t think you’ll find your answers in there.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. Witches don’t exist,” he shot back. I cracked my neck and tried to rid myself of the feeling that my skin was being stretched.
A knock sounded on another door, and we all swiveled our heads toward it, but no one offered to answer it. I groaned and threw my shoulders back before striding over and flinging it open.
A petite, pretty brunette blinked at me, a plate of cookies in her hands. Oh, goodie, memory loss with treats. Could be worse.
“Who are you?” I asked.
“Um, Maggie?”
Why did she sound unsure? Was she suffering from the same memory issues too?
I pointed at the plate. “And those?”
“Don’t have names, but are triple chocolate chip and chili cookies.”
“Chili and chocolate?” vampire wannabe asked as he snatched the plate from her hands. “Gimmie.”
“You know who we are?” I checked. Maggie nodded, so I grabbed her wrist and pulled her inside.
Vampire man stuffed one in his mouth before offering the plate around.
The blonde turned her nose in the air. “I’m not hungry for cookies.”
“Do you need blood?” Maggie asked.
“Why would she need blood?” I hissed.
The growly guy paced the room with the leather-coat dude, like they were scouting for assassins.
“Because she’s a vampire. A vegetarian one, but still in need of the occasional bloodletting. I think Ezra is here.”
The guys paused their prowling, and the sharp-suited man stopped mid-chomp.
“You’re funny,” the older woman in the sheath dress said.
“Thank you,” Maggie said slowly. “Is this a game? Oh, is it for the wedding?” She flicked her hand between me and the two guys.
“What wedding?” I glanced between the leather-coat guy and the big growly one.
She giggled. “This is fun.”
“I disagree,” the leather coat guy mumbled.
“Vampires don’t exist,” I whispered, setting aside the wedding comment for the more important one. The words felt wrong in my mouth, and I licked my dry lips. “Are we all vampires?”
Maggie rolled her eyes. “Next you’ll declare witches don’t fly and shifters don’t shift.”
“Shift?” the boho woman asked. “Into what?” She sounded curious, not terrified.
Why weren’t we freaking out more? Must be the drugs still having a dopey effect on our brains.
“Well, he’s a prehistoric tiger.” Maggie pointed at the huge dude. “He’s a wolf,” she added with a look at the leather coat guy. “And I’m a bobcat.”
Everyone laughed. “You had us going there for a minute,” I said with a chuckle.
“I can prove it.” Her skin rippled, her clothing tore, her bones shifted, and in a heartbeat, an honest-to-god real-life bobcat stood before us.
“Holy shit,” the vampire wannabe whispered.
The ghost dude rose through the floor, looking like he was about to cry. “I can’t control it,” he muttered before continuing up through the roof.
“This is very weird,” the older woman decreed.
“Was it the ghost, the cat, or the vampire threat that tipped you over?” the growly guy asked.
She shrugged. “The combination of.”
The blonde touched the arm of the growly dude, and fire shot up my spine. My back arched, and a scream ripped from my throat. “Mine,” I snarled in a terrifying layered tone.
“No, it was definitely the exploding wings that did it for me,” the leather-clad dude decided.
Silence coated the room, and everyone took a collective step back.
I looked over my shoulder, finding impossibly huge wings protruding from my back. That was disconcerting.
“Is that all it takes to find my man?” the boho girl said with a snap of her fingers. “I just demand he turns up, and he growls and snarls ‘mine’?”
The air crackled with electricity. What now? Zombies? The apocalypse? A man materialized before us. Power rolled off him in waves, making my bones ache with how old it was. Knowing, challenging, weighing up your soul.
The blonde princess eyed him with appraisal while boho woman squealed and launched herself at him. “There you are!” She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. Deeply. Enthusiastically. Like she’d just found home.
He stood rigid for a heartbeat, then, with a resigned sigh, placed his hands on her waist and kissed her back. Not lovingly. Not passionately. More like a man performing a scientific analysis of human affection.
She melted anyway.
When he finally released her, she swayed on her feet, touching her lips. “That felt sinful,” she whispered.
“Floozy, stealing all the pretty ones,” the blonde said with a pout.
He glanced up at the ceiling as if begging the universe for strength. “Of all the realities where this could have happened.”
The bobcat transformed back into her human shape and huffed. She tapped her temple. “I think they lost their marbles trying to give Cora hers back.”
Who the hell was Cora? What a ridiculous name.
The new guy groaned and swiped a hand down his face. “As amusing as this is, I have places I need you to be and souls I need you to save.” He flicked his hand, and agony exploded through my skull as memories came crashing back.
I fell to my knees and clutched my head, screams tearing free of my throat until it broke.
But through it all, my mate held me in his arms—not rescuing, not pushing, just waiting while I absorbed the pain.
My heart broke into a thousand pieces, and the universe trembled as I fought to hold myself together.
We felt pain for a reason. To warn, to remind us we exist, to push us to act.
I heard the warning, and I knew what my existence meant to Eloise Roberts.
Death.